By John Denton Feb. 15, 2017
ORLANDO – While the Orlando Magic are certainly excited about the potential of
Terrence Ross, they must wait another week to see the highly athletic shooting
guard/small forward in action on the court.
Orlando acquired Ross in a trade on Tuesday morning and sent power forward Serge
Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors. Ross arrived in Orlando on Tuesday night, passed
his physical Wednesday morning and then watched the team’s shoot-around session
at the Amway Center. However, Ross was unable to play on Wednesday night because
Ibaka had yet to pass his physical with the Raptors.
The Raptors held a news conference on Wednesday for Ibaka, however the power
forward was not cleared by the team and the NBA league office. He was not in
uniform for Toronto on Wednesday against Charlotte.
With the NBA about to break for the NBA All-Star Game, Ross must wait until Feb.
23 to make his Orlando debut before Magic fans. That is assuming, of course,
that Ibaka is eventually cleared and the trade isn’t voided.
Coach Frank Vogel had planned to use Ross, 26, on Wednesday against the Spurs in
his first game with the Magic. While Ross has spent most of his five-year career
backing up all-star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan in Toronto, he has at times
been a starter. Vogel said he hasn’t decided how he will use the 6-foot-7,
206-pound Ross.
Whatever role that he plays as a starter or a reserve, Ross should bring some
much-needed shooting and athleticism to a Magic roster that was previously
top-heavy with big men. He has averaged 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 54
games, while scoring in double digits 27 times and accounting for 20-or-more
points five times, including a season-best 25 points on Dec. 12 in Milwaukee.
Ross is shooting a career-best 44.1 percent from the floor while knocking down
37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. With the Raptors this season, he made at
least one 3-pointer in 42 games and he drilled at least three threes in a game
16 times.
“With (Evan) Fournier, (Mario) Hezonja, Ross, Gordon and Jeff Green, you’ve got
five guys right there who can play the wing position in a spread lineup,” Vogel
said. “And the fact that he’s a career 38 percent 3-point shooter, he’s really
going to help us.
“I think there’s a chance that we could use him as a starter with Aaron Gordon
at the (power forward position),” Vogel added later. “There’s a chance we can
use him as a bench scorer and we’ll probably look at both options.”
A.G. ON THE MOVE?: With Ibaka gone, there should be more minutes available at
power forward and theoretically that could lead to Aaron Gordon returning to his
natural position at power forward. Gordon played there his first two seasons in
the NBA, but he shifted over to small forward this season because of the log jam
along the frontline.
Playing mostly on the perimeter instead of being used as a low-post threat,
Gordon has struggled to consistently knock down long-range shots. He hit just
42.9 percent of his field goals and only 29.5 percent of his 3-point tries as
foes have often backed off him or gone under screens and dared him to shoot.
However, Gordon has had enormous success on the defensive end while guarding
mostly perimeter players. Vogel has used him on the likes of James Harden, Chris
Paul, Paul George, Damian Lillard and DeRozan and he’s had success in
frustrating them with his rare combination of length and strength.
Gordon’s prowess as a wing defender gives Vogel pause in wanting to change his
position in midseason.
“That’s the one thing that’s kind of holding me back from moving him back to a
full-time power forward – the success that he’s had there (at small forward) and
the benefits we gain as a team in having him guard the other team’s best
perimeter player,” Vogel said. “We don’t want to lose that in trying to shift
his position, so we’re going to keep him in that (small forward) role
indefinitely so to speak, while at the same sliding him over to power forward
some. So he’s going to see a blend of both.”
GREEN’S ADVICE: Magic forward Jeff Green knows the whirlwind of emotions and
chaotic scheduling that Ross is going through right now. After all, he’s been
traded three times in the middle of a season, going from Oklahoma City to
Boston, Boston to Memphis and Memphis to the Los Angeles Clippers.
While most sports fans look at pro athletes as pawns that can easily be traded
from team to team, Green stressed that they are real people with families and
lives that are dramatically disrupted when a trade comes in the middle of a
season.
“You have a matter of hours to pack up everything and head to a new city and
try to figure out how to get settled. It’s a tough adjustment,” Green said.
Green, who is in his ninth NBA season, said he will do everything in his power
to try and held Ross ease the transition to a new team and a new city.
“When you welcome someone to a good environment, a good atmosphere and you get
around people who are willing to help, that makes it easier,” Green said.
“With T-Ross being new and coming here, we’re going to do whatever it takes to
make him feel comfortable and help with his adjustment and get him anything that
he needs because it is a quick turnaround. Luckily he has the all-star break
coming up and he’ll have some time to settle in, but as of today we want to make
sure he’s well taken care of so that he can focus on the game (of basketball)
and not have to focus on other things that go on behind the scenes.”
Player: Terrence Ross
Media Content:
http://www.nba.com/magic/news/terrence-ross-ruled-ineligible-play-wednesday
Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Orlando Magic, Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic
Media Thumbnail:
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Taxonomy: OMYF, john denton
Story Link:
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